A Missouri convenience store clerk was hailed as a “she-ro” by fellow employees after police said she fatally shot a would-be robber during a smoke break.

The wild confrontation unfolded after the 35-year-old worker, who was not identified, stepped outside for a smoke during her shift at a 7-Eleven in St. Louis just before 3:50 a.m. Monday, cops said. Suddenly, an armed man approached her and tried to rob her — but the woman, who was also armed, pulled out a pistol and shot the man in the chest, arm and thigh.

The suspect, 30, later died at St. Louis University Hospital, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The female clerk, who was shot twice in the leg during the gunfight, was listed in stable condition. Read more atFox News.

See Iggros Moshe (Orach Chaim 4:75.3), where Rav Moshe Feinstein was asked whether or not women who lived in Gush Etzion would be allowed to carry guns. While women are generally prohibited from carrying weapons on the grounds that they are kli gever, man-specific clothing, perhaps the law would be different in the case of individuals living among hostile enemies, where every venture out of one’s town carried the potential for some life-threatening attack.

Rav Moshe offers an analysis of the general prohibition against women carrying firearms. Ultimately, Rav Moshe strongly supports women in this case carrying pistols, as this is obviously a case of pikuach nefesh, and it does not make sense to tell women to not travel to unsafe places (especially since every road would qualify as an unsafe place).

Rav Moshe further notes that not only should women be allowed to carry guns if they feel it is necessary, but they can do so even if travelling with a man who also has a gun and, of course, they should make sure to receive the necessary training in order to be able to use their guns effectively if need be.

I guess, because both the attacker and the victim who defended herself were of the same race, we won’t have another Ferguson situation over here. Did the attacker purchase his gun legally? Will Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill give us a lecture on gun control?